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Thursday, March 13, 2014

Answers

So I suppose the first question that people had is why am I moving? Honestly there are way too many reasons why but the main reason is to get some support to be able to improve this place. The ad money I was getting from the network dried up to nothing and despite several attempts there never was a good answer why. Second it has to do with having the backing of the Blueshirt Bulletin the magazine versus The Prospect Park blog.

There are way too many bloggers out there and nobody has ever really defined a good standard so CHL teams as well as NCAA teams have a legit beef as to who should be seen as just a blogger or as a journalist. The Blueshirt Bulletin magazine helps my cause to gain better access to the prospects.

It is also an opportunity to be able to do some things with the prospect coverage that I simply wasn't able to do on my own which is add increased coverage of the upcoming drafts. Now I will be able to do that and as Prospect Editor at the Blueshirt Bulletin, I will also be making increased coverage of all Ranger prospects from draft floor to Greenville to Hartford and finally to the Rangers a priority.

Dan Akeson the current publisher of the magazine is also about to do a major rebranding of the magazine and I share his vision on what he wants to do. There is going to be a whole bunch of new and fun stuff that is going to make the Blueshirt Bulletin the one stop source for everything Ranger.

While the address will change, these daily reports will not and they will remain as they always have been free to you fans. We just plan on doing some other things that I believe will make it well worth your dollar. Just keep your eye here as we bring you the beginning of the new and improved Blueshirt Bulletin.

Game Action

Anthony Duclair (Quebec Remparts)

Going to start you off with the latest that I have on Anthony Duclair (NYR 2013 3rd) which is coming to us via "Le Journal de Quebec" as there is an article on Duclair which we have a translated version of for you right here. For those not wanting to go read the translated version, Duclair is hoping to be ready for the start of the QMJHL playoffs (which is next week) but the one thing he said that I liked the most was this:

"I do not know when I return to the game, but at the same time, we must not take lightly the head injuries. So I have to take my time. I am aware that it may affect my future. "

Too many young talented prospects rushed their way back to action for whatever reason only to get hurt even worse. One thing that we have not heard is that Duclair has been symptom free for 7 days which is key for QMJHL players. Under QMJHL rules a player must be symptom free for 7 days before they may begin working out. Let us see what happens over the next 7-10 days.

Mackenzie Skapski (NYR 2013 6th) gave up 3 goals on 28 shots as his Kootenay Ice lost to the Red Deer Rebels 3-2 in Red Deer. Skapski was playing his 2nd game in as many nights didn't play badly but Kootenay is very much missing Tim Bozon's offense as they out shot the Rebels 49-28 but could only manage 2 goals (on top of the zero against Edmonton Tuesday night). The downside of this loss is that Swift Current won their game and now is just 1 point behind Kootenay for 5th place in the WHL's Eastern Conference.

Skapski falls to 28-19-2-1 with a 2.61 goals against and a 0.919 save percentage.

Kootenay does not want to fall to 6th place as then they would be facing (most likely) Calgary who despite having the 2nd best record in the Eastern Conference is 3rd because just like the NHL the division winners get a higher seed. Kootenay with 2 games remaining will be playing a home and home with Calgary.

Griffin Reinhart's (NYI 2012 1st) 4th goal of the season coming at 18:56 of the second period turned out to be the game winning goal as Reinhart's Edmonton Oil Kings defeated the Medicine Hat Tigers 3-1. While Reinhart has only 4 goals this season, this was his 2nd game winning goal as the Oil Kings are now 1 point or 1 Calgary loss or tie away from clinching the WHL's Eastern Conference Championship for the 3rd straight season.

Reinhart is 4-17-21 on the season.

Loic Leduc's (NYI 2012 4th) 6th goal of the season was also the game winning goal as Leduc's Rimouski Oceanic won their 15th straight game 2-1 over the Chicoutimi Saguenéens. It was Leduc's first ever game winning goal after 4 seasons in the QMJHL. Leduc improves to 6-8-14 on the season as the win moves the Oceanic into a virtual tie for the best record in the QMJHL.

The Oceanic and Baie-Comeau Drakkar both have 95 points but the Drakkar have one more win than the Oceanic so heading into the final 2 games this weekend. The Oceanic will have a home and home with the Quebec Remparts while the Drakkar will have a home and home with the Chicoutimi Saguenéens. The winner gets the Telus East Division title and most likely the number one seed in the QMJHL playoffs while the loser gets the 4th seed.

Finally Kyle Burroughs (NYI 2013 7th) missed his 2nd straight game with an "upper body" injury sitting out his Regina Pat's game against the Prince Albert Raiders. No word as to whether he will play this weekend or sit out until next week's playoffs.